Cheap travel insurance car excess waiver - which company?

[Joynz]

I’m going to NZ shortly and need suggestions for cheap travel insurance that covers excess waiver for 16 days and includes metal (gravel) roads.

(Not 4 wheel driving type roads - just the normal well-maintained roads that you get outside any NZ town.)

I need to get excess waiver of $2,000 - but the excess waiver through rental company would be $320 for the 16 days! Ouch.

Travel insurance with an excess waiver usually costs me just under $50. (I don’t care much about other inclusions - medical and cancellation are a bonus only.)

Two problems I’ve just encountered:
1. The company I usually use (Budget) says it will only cover for roads that are sealed - i.e. concrete or tarmac.
2. Some companies won’t cover for rental periods over 15 days!

Appreciate suggestions.

[Moondog55]

Don't take out insurance for either the first or the last day and don't drive on that day?
$20- a day isn't exorbitant but it is still a big whack of dollars

[Joynz]

Need the car on both days though...

[Aardvark]

I would have assumed you'd done a search on the next tier of options to Budget, Hertz, Thrifty, Avis and Europcar.
Go Rentals, Ace, Apex, Aerodrive. They still use a similar system of reducing the excess in stages.
The smaller the company though, the more likely you might be able to negotiate on certain features.

[Lamont]

Never had to claim which I reckon is the test of a car place or insurance company but here are some ideas form my trips-
Used ACE-seemed okay.
Got the near cheapest one -will say has about 100.00 ks on it. Go for the 1.2 litre -fly like the wind as the cost of petrol is so high.
Bought TID insurance-no car excess from the ACE bought.

[Joynz]

I have rented using Ace a lot - always the 10 year old Nisan Tiidas. Great value - often costs around $21 a day to rent. I’m using Apex this time as they are better value than Ace in Queenstown.

I don‘t want to use Apex’s in house excess waiver though as I think it’s very pricey - almost the same cost as the rental for 16 days.

I’ll post the insurance company I end up using once I look into it a bit more.

[Joynz]

Results so far using Compare the Market. The following insurance companies provide cheap cover which covers driving on roads other than ones sealed with cement or tarmac and don’t exclude trips of 16 days. Cost is for my age - yours may vary slightly of course.

Go insurance - Go Plus - $57
Woolworths Comprehensive - $60
Travel With Kit - Basic/Comprehensive $50.97 & $63
Insure & Go - Silver/Gold - $71 / $79

Reading the product disclosure statements online has been really painful!

But, as you can see, it’s much better value to pay $60 for 16 days car rental excess waiver cover (and get the benefits of cancellation insurance, accident insurance, luggage cover etc as part of the policy) than pay $320 through the rental car company ($20 per day) just for the rental excess waiver!

[johnw]

Results so far using Compare the Market. The following insurance companies provide cheap cover which covers driving on roads other than ones sealed with cement or tarmac and don’t exclude trips of 16 days. Cost is for my age - yours may vary slightly of course.

Go insurance - Go Plus - $57
Woolworths Comprehensive - $60
Travel With Kit - Basic/Comprehensive $50.97 & $63
Insure & Go - Silver/Gold - $71 / $79

Reading the product disclosure statements online has been really painful!

But, as you can see, it’s much better value to pay $60 for 16 days car rental excess waiver cover (and get the benefits of cancellation insurance, accident insurance, luggage cover etc as part of the policy) than pay $320 through the rental car company ($20 per day) just for the rental excess waiver!

Yes, but I recommend also checking the rental agreements if you haven't already. Most policies will not honour a claim if you were in breach of the rental agreement. I used Apex in NZ a couple of years ago and found them pretty good but some roads were excluded (note I would never use them in Australia after a very negative experience highlighting that their conditions here are Draconian). Finding rental car companies that allow unsealed road driving has become a nightmare for me in recent years. FWIW Insure and Go usually gets good reviews by Choice magazine.

[Joynz]

Yes, have read Apex’s rental conditions - they list about 5 road (and beach) exclusions in NZ - so all good.

I’ve read through about 12 of the various PDSs and they all specifically exclude insurance for any breach of the rental agreement.

I have used Insure and Go before too - they are tracking at $64 or $71 - I used the custom option that lets you reduce the cancellation benefits and rental excess from the starting cost of $71 and $79.

[bernieq]

Have you looked at Travel Insurance Direct ?

As long as the rental agreement allows driving on gravel roads, the basic policy covers up to $4000 excess with no policy excess (ie if you make a claim of say $1000, once approved, you receive $1000)

A few years ago, I used TID because they cover excess for minibus hire, which most don't. I did have to make an excess claim and it was processed and paid quickly (once the paperwork was done - that was a bit tedious).